OpenAI and Apple shook hands on a deal two years ago. Now OpenAI is calling lawyers.
The startup thinks Apple has not held up its end. It is now working with an outside law firm on what to do next.
ChatGPT got built into iOS back in 2024 as part of iOS 18. OpenAI thought the iPhone would be a huge funnel.
The plan was simple. More iPhone users would see ChatGPT and pay for it.
The cash from those sign-ups could run into the billions a year.
That has not played out. The data inside OpenAI shows users would rather open the ChatGPT app on their own than go through Siri.
The app is fast. The Siri route is not.
An OpenAI exec told Bloomberg the gap is not on their side.
The quote: "We have done everything from a product perspective. They have not, and worse, they haven't even made an honest effort."
OpenAI's legal team is now working with an outside firm. Bloomberg reports they are weighing a range of moves that could be acted on soon.
The first step is likely not a full lawsuit. It is a formal notice to Apple that says Apple has broken the deal.
No money is changing hands here. Apple just takes a cut of any ChatGPT sign-up sold through iOS, and Apple is not paying OpenAI for the tech.
That setup put all the upside on volume. The volume never came, and the deal has been quiet ever since.
Apple plans to use WWDC, its big yearly show, to roll out a new Siri run by Google's Gemini. iOS 27 will let other AI apps like Claude plug in too.
That part is not what is driving the legal team. The Apple deal was never meant to lock OpenAI in.
What is adding heat is what is going on around the deal. OpenAI has been pulling Apple engineers onto its own hardware push.
That push is now run by ex-Apple design chief Jony Ive after OpenAI bought his startup. Apple bosses have been mad about the hiring for more than a year.
The two firms are now circling each other instead of working as a team. WWDC is in a few weeks, and the legal notice could land first.
OpenAI says no final calls have been made. The startup still wants to settle this without going to court.
A court fight would be ugly for both sides. It would put deal terms in public view.
It would also make Apple look slow on AI right when the firm needs the opposite. So a quiet deal is more likely than a loud one.
Two years in, OpenAI is treating Apple less like a partner and more like a problem to manage.
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